


Dawn's Light

by luvsanime02



Series: Delete Winter [11]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Failed Attempt at Seduction, Gen, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 20:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3703883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvsanime02/pseuds/luvsanime02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren hates feeling so useless, and doesn't know why Levi's putting up with him. This fear leads him to try something stupid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dawn's Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



**Disclaimer:** I don’t own Shingeki no Kyojin. That honor belongs to Isayama-sensei. I’m making no profit off of this fic.

########

**Dawn’s Light** by luvsanime02

########

Eren hated falling asleep.

Every night now held the same fear of him hurting someone he cared about without even being aware of it until it was too late. In his nightmares, sometimes Eren was choking someone again, only it would be Mikasa and she wouldn’t be breathing. Her lifeless eyes would stare up at him accusingly.

He would wake up, flailing and gasping for breath, and she would be there beside him, already awake, holding him through his shaking. Part of Eren wanted to push her away out of fear that he would hurt her somehow, but the rest of him clung to her warmth, to the way she soothed him back to sleep.

Still, Eren hated that he was so weak that he needed the comfort, even though he knew Mikasa didn’t mind.

At least he was through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. The nights and days of cold sweats and delusions had seemed endless. He’d have given anything then for another pill placed gently on the tip of his tongue, as that woman had always done. Eren didn’t even know what they’d been. They’d tested him at the hospital, but hadn’t told him the results due to him being a minor. Maybe they’d thought the details would be too traumatic.

Eren snorted at the thought.

Mikasa’s uncle, who insisted on just being called Levi, had offered to share the results with him, but Eren hadn’t wanted the temptation of knowing. If he knew exactly what drug had given him that particular high then he wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t try to find a seller on the streets somewhere. Even now, he craved them.

Especially when he woke up from nightmares, like tonight. Eren jolted awake and looked over quickly at Mikasa’s resting face. Good, he hadn’t woken her up this time. He laid there and watched her breathe, trying to reassure himself that everything was fine.

And it was, more than his life had been in over five years. It had taken months of effort. He didn’t know why Levi had gone through so much effort to save them both, but the older man had recently obtained legal guardianship of both Mikasa and Eren.

He didn’t think he could ever repay Levi for not splitting them up like the court had recommended. Eren didn’t even know what he would do without Mikasa, how he would survive.

A familiar feeling clenched in his gut: fear. Even though Levi had put so much effort into keeping custody of both of them, Eren knew it was only because that was what Mikasa wanted. Levi had no reason to want to keep Eren around, except for her.

And why should he? Eren had been nothing but trouble and hospital bills and endless headaches so far. Not to mention the therapy sessions, which couldn’t be cheap. Some days, he still slid back and was just so _angry_ at everything, and during those times he yelled at everyone, including Mikasa.

Eren felt miserable just thinking about it. He didn’t know what to do to make Levi keep Eren, no matter how awful he was acting. Honestly, Eren was surprised that he hadn’t just been thrown out yet.

Then he paused. Eren lay there for a moment more, thinking, asking himself if he really wanted to do this again, but then he looked at Mikasa’s face that was so close to his own and knew that his answer was a resounding yes. No matter what, Eren didn’t want to lose her - _couldn’t._

Quietly, Eren slid out of the bed, spared a glance at the empty one across the room that was never used, and then he walked softly to the door. He cracked it open and peered into the hallway. The apartment was silent. Slowly, he shut the door again, and then walked down the hallway and opened Levi’s door. He waited, but there was no movement from within, so Eren entered the room. He stood there for a minute, bracing himself for what he was about to do, and then he peeled off his sleeping pants and walked over to the bed, crawling under the covers.

Or, he tried to. Suddenly, the world was spinning and Eren found himself lying flat on his back and staring up at Levi’s still-sleepy face. He felt something pointing sharply against his throat and realized it was a knife.

Eren watched as Levi blinked once, then twice, and then rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh. The knife disappeared from Eren’s neck, and the weight that had been pinning him down eased up. He started breathing again.

“Fuck,” Levi muttered. They both calmed down for a minute, and then, harsher, the man asked him, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Eren’s hands balled up as he grabbed at the sheets, but he jerked his head upright and glared into Levi’s eyes. “What do you think I’m doing?” he asked sarcastically. “I’m giving you what you want so you won’t take Mikasa away and kick me out.”

Levi snorted beside him in derision, and Eren suddenly felt uncertain. “And what the hell makes you think I’d want a shitty brat like you in my bed, anyway? Fuck, what time is it?”

Eren didn’t know what time it was but he felt wide awake, and all of the sudden what he’d been trying to do hit him full-force. He was such an idiot. “I-” he started to say, but Levi interrupted him.

“Go back to your own bed, Eren. Damn it.” He no longer sounded angry, just very, very tired. Eren felt like such a fucking dumbass. He’d just fucked everything up. Still, he didn’t move.

There was silence in the room for a bit, and then Eren heard Levi sigh again. “Look, if you want to start pulling more weight around here and being useful, I’m not going to complain. Start with cleaning the kitchen or something. Or hell, start cooking. That’d help everyone out.”

Eren blinked slowly. The thought of helping around the apartment had never even occurred to him. _I can do this, though,_ he thought, suddenly determined _. I can definitely help out like that._

“Good,” Levi continued, as though he’d heard Eren’s thoughts. “Now that we’ve got that settled, get the hell out of my bed and let me go back to sleep.”

Eren swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “Thanks,” he managed, a powerful wave of relief coming over him. He didn’t have to do it. A weight that he hadn’t even known was bothering him was suddenly gone. Eren didn’t have to have sex with Levi; the man was going to let him stay anyway. He could find some other way to be useful.

“Whatever,” Levi muttered. “I’m sleeping now.”

Eren felt himself smiling, just a little. It was the first time he could remember feeling really relaxed in a long time. He got out of Levi’s bed and found his pants on the floor, then slipped them back on. “Good night,” Eren called out to Levi, as he was leaving the man’s room. He paused. “And sorry,” he added sheepishly.

Just before he closed the door he thought he heard a muffled, “Damn brats.”

Grinning fully now, Eren walked back to his room, looking forward to tomorrow.


End file.
